Shopper footfall surges 167% as non-essential retail reopens in Scotland
CONSUMERS “flocked” to Scotland’s high streets on the first day of reopening of non-essential shops, the Scottish Retail Consortium has declared, with footfall on Monday up by 167 per cent on the same day last week.
The SRC highlighted the fact that retail footfall in Scotland on reopening day was down “only” 0.7% on the corresponding Monday of 2019 “despite many eateries, pubs and offices etc being closed”, based on the figures it has produced in association with Sensormatic IQ.
With non-essential retail having been closed this time last year amid the first coronavirus lockdown, the SRC has had to go back to the corresponding Monday of 2019 for a meaningful comparison.
It noted that, when non-essential retail reopened in England and Wales on April 12, footfall had been down by 10.8% and 8.7% respectively on the corresponding Monday of 2019.
The SRC noted that, in terms of the 167% rise in Scottish shopper footfall this Monday compared with a week earlier, “many shops were shuttered” on April 19, in line with Scottish Government restrictions.
SRC director David Lonsdale welcomed the strong footfall figures for Scotland on Monday this week.
He said yesterday: “After 122 days, high street shops finally had something to smile about as customers surged to their stores. Reopening day footfall was significantly higher than in England and Wales, possibly due to the longer and more stringent Scottish lockdown over the past four months. That’s super news for shop owners who have had a long wait to finally reopen their doors to customers.”
However, he emphasised it was “worth sounding a note of caution” based on experiences elsewhere.
Mr Lonsdale said: “Elsewhere we have seen an initial rush of shoppers, but footfall has then fallen back once the initial pent-up demand and need for products subsides. Even Monday’s figures are a touch below what would have been expected pre-crisis – a reminder of how long the road back to growth will be, especially with offices and parts of hospitality still closed.
“It’s great shops are open again and being supported by customers – but it will be some time before the retail industry returns to profitable and sustainable growth.”